This is a request for continuation of our Institutional NRSA, funded since 1975 for post-graduate training of MDs and PhDs in the Iowa Cardiovascular Research Center. A large cadre of established investigators will serve as mentors for each of 15 trainees. Most of the 31 scientists who serve as primary mentors have been leaders and collaborators in major NIH funded research programs for several years. The research programs focus on 5 areas: Membrane Biology and Cell Signaling, Integrative Neurobiology of Cardiovascular Regulation, Vascular Biology, Cerebral Circulation and Hypertension. Multidisciplinary themes and core resources cut across these major research areas. The emphasis is on basic, clinical, and translational research and a primary goal of an academic career. Most trainees and particularly the MDs will require from 4 to 6 years of advanced training in expectation of a faculty position as independent investigators. A career plan is outlined with support from this training grant for 1 to 3 years and the remaining years funded by institutional sources or other NIH, foundation or American Heart Association career development programs. The trainees participate in seminars, graduate courses, bench research, genomic and clinical research, and epidemiologic surveys and biostatistics. Several courses will be mandatory for individuals seeking MS or PhD degrees and for all trainees in Responsible Conduct of Research. Our resources include the only medical school in the state of Iowa, one of the largest University-owned hospitals, the VA Medical Center, a College of Public Health and a Cardiovascular Research Center of eminent recognition with 3 Howard Hughes Medical Investigators and 4 members of the National Academy and/or Institute of Medicine. Our strengths are 1) the recruitment and retention of established investigators; 2) the cohesive interaction between basic scientists and clinical investigators providing an excellent environment for training of PhDs and MDs side by side; 3) the record of success in training outstanding cardiovascular scientists; and 4) the breadth and depth of research opportunities, and superb institutional commitment. Several important new developments have positioned us very favorably to continue to provide an outstanding environment for training cardiovascular scientists. These are: renewal of 5 major program project grants, the creation of a new Institute for Clinical and Translational Research with a funded CTSA, the building of a new Institute of Biomedical Discovery, and the funding of a $25M endowment for research in diabetes and its cardiovascular consequences. In this renewal we place greater emphasis on multidisciplinary collaborations, on the link between basic and translational science, on mentoring and evaluations, and on recruitment of unrepresented minorities.